IT seems Goddess of Happiness has stopped visiting State of Jammu and Kashmir since ages and unfortunately innocent people suffer from time to time. Atrocities of all these years, Devastation of floods and now fear of Swine flu but thanks to almighty Kashmiri masses have always stood together and defeated the bad times. It is again dark times where people with vested interests are ready to take advantage of ignorance and innocence.
Unfortunately a hype has been created by media reporting , academicians and some bodies which has created massive anxiety and is influencing a unreasonable demand for pharmaceutical products (in terms of vaccines, antiviral drugs etc).People appreciate the services of media, academicians and various bodies for educating masses and activating the Govt machinery for combating it , but unfortunately we have ignored the fact that hype of this magnitude has more disastrous effects than benefits.
We should remember a similar hype was created in 2009 and 2010 in USA and UK and at that time a study was conducted by Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine( retrospective content analysis of UK newspaper articles on H1N1 influenza, examining quoted sources) and it was found that there was strong evidence of Competing interests among academics providing media commentary during the early H1N1 pandemic. It was found that heightened risk assessments, combined with advocacy for pharmaceutical products to counter this risk, lead to increased public anxiety and demand. Academics should thus declare, and journalists report, relevant Competing interests for media interviews .
It seems same thing is happening in Kashmir on this swine flue issue . Media reporting has created more of Swine Flue media illness and public is running from pillar to post( all confused) searching for vaccines, antiviral drugs etc and the Hawks of concerned business are taking advantage of this opportunity and are looting innocent people right and left.
It is high time that people should religiously follow the instructions of experts in this field and should not get confused with misleading information of pseudo experts with vested interests. Our brilliant Media personals, general practitioners , physicians and teachers have vital role to play.
Dr Altaf Gauhar Haji
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